CHAPTER TWO
--Concord Dawn--
"He is waking up, sir."
"Good. He needs to be conscious for this."
Kadar groggily awoke to find himself strapped to a table in a darkened chamber. Dreaded memories bubbled to the surface; was this some sort of nightmare? Was he being forced to relive what happened on Metalorn?
He was proven wrong when a dark haired man-- his brother Tral-- came into view.
"Did we have a nice nap?"
Kadar scowled beneath his helmet. "Some family reunion this is."
Tral smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry, brother, but I knew you wouldn't have agreed to come with us... especially if you knew why we wanted you."
"What do you mean?"
Tral sighed. "There are two ways this can go. You can either cooperate, or we will be forced to make the changes necessary for you to do so."
"Are you going to start making sense?" Kadar growled.
"Sure thing. We want you to kill Boba Fett."
Kadar nearly sat up with a jolt, though his restraints prevented him from doing so. "You mean... Mand'alor?"
Tral snorted. "He's not been much of one lately. No one's seen him since the Glorian War. Nowhere on Mandalore, not on Concord Dawn...."
"So you want me to hunt him down and kill him."
"You are one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy," Tral said. "And it's not as if you're good old pals with him, right?"
"Mandalorians don't kill each other."
"And you haven't been one in ten years."
Kadar was silent for a long time; he had always hated it when his brother was right, and twenty-seven years had not made a difference.
"What's the alternative, then? If I refuse?"
Tral gave another rueful look as a surgical droid came into view. "A lobotomy is an option for you."
Kadar huffed. He didn't like the prospect of either idea, but he wasn't too keen on losing his will.
"Fine," he growled. "I'll find Mand'alor and kill him."
Trail smiled as the restraints on Kadar were automatically undone. "Thank you for making this easy, brother."
"I'll be wanting something in return for all this."
"Name it."
"I want a nice, quiet, and private place to live for the rest of my life. Along with a new identity, so that no one seeking revenge can find me."
"Done." Tral then arched an eyebrow. "Though wouldn't be nice to reconcile with your daughter?"
Kadar said nothing as he strode out the nearest door and into the Concord Dawn moonlight.
--Phaeda--
"You know, your partially dyed hair clashes with your green skin."
Kyla Kishanti glared at the Jenet waiter. "Just give me my roba steak."
The rodent-like being sneered at her as he set down the plate. "Your mother was a roba. And your father smelt of bula berries."
"You're asking for a blaster in the face, buster."
The server snorted before storming away. Kyla sighed in exasperation; she knew that Jenets saw insults and harsh opinions as compliments, but Kyla was not a Jenet and she was not in the mood for returning the favor to them.
As she grudgingly bit into her steak, Bedo looked up at her from his own meal, which he absorbed through his suction-cupped fingers. "Still bothered about that ex-boyfriend?"
"I'm not bothered," Kyla said snappishly. "Just... wish things had gone a little bit better back there."
"That still counts as being bothered," Keera purred, leaning over her soup. "You know, as a former gossip writer, I'm dying to know the story between you two."
Kyla scowled. "Gee, I wonder why you got dropped from that position. Keep your nose out of my business, Keera."
"I just can't believe I met my father," Ves murmured, having barely touched her Bantha Burger. "And before any of you say it, no, he wasn't lying. I should know what my father looks like."
"Why do you say that?" Bedo asked. "Weren't you very young when you got adopted?"
Ves sighed. "I was only nine when he left me. I can still remember him and Mum vividly. And he-- Kadar-- looked just like him, except, well, older and...."
Her voice trailed off and Kyla realized she was staring at a man who had just walked into the diner. He wore a poncho over a green shirt and tan pants, with a wide-brimmed straw hat concealing the top half of his face.
"That's not... who I think it is, is it?"
"Who do you think it is?" Ace asked as he pulled a strand of lettuce from his teeth.
"Quick, name the best bounty hunter ever."
"Kadar," Kyla said right off the bat.
"Calo Nord," Bedo supplied.
"Cad Bane," Keera said dreamily.
"That... one Ithorian." Wiskin tapped his chin. "What was his name again?"
"Boba Fett," Ace finally said.
"Thank you." Ves rolled her eyes. "Seriously, who's Calo Nord?"
Bedo huffed and muttered something about kids and their lack of education on history.
Kyla leaned forward towards Ves and whispered, "Do you mean to tell me that you think that man over there is the one and only Boba Fett?"
Ves nodded.
"How do you even know what he looks like without his helmet?"
"When... my foster father took me to meetings with him, I sometimes saw him without his helmet."
"What's he doing here on Phaeda, all the way from Mandalorian Space?" Ace wondered aloud.
"Why do we care?" Wiskin growled.
"I care," Keera murmured, appraising the notorious ex-bounty hunter from afar.
Kyla rolled her eyes. "Of course you do, but we don't, and he probably wouldn't want us to. So just let him mind his business and--"
Before she could finish, Ves was already out of her seat and making a bee-line for Boba Fett. The Mirialan slumped her shoulders.
Since when does anyone listen to me?
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